The blood donation
by artislife18
Summary: Fury ordered the avengers to do a blood donation as part of a publicity stunt. What could go wrong? Pre-Steve/Tony.


The Blood Donation.

As a publicity stunt, fury had ordered the avengers to donate blood ,which was why we were all here in the city hospital with cameras following us as we entered the hospital wing for the donation. Clint and natasha were so excited ,I didn't understand why getting pricked and literally having things sucked out of you was in any way entertaining. But hey, it was for a good cause after all. Thor was besides himself even though he had no idea what a blood donation was ,but fury had promised him biscuits and pop tarts. Bruce on the other hand was sullen, he was afraid the other guy would not appreciate this particular event as much . And then there was Tony, head held high, smirking at the cameras , walking with as much swagger as he could muster. But what gave it away, was the fingers of his right hand ever so subtly playing with the end of his blazer. He was nervous for some reason , but hid it well enough from the watchful eyes of the media.

"This way ,please" said a nurse ushering us into a room full of equipment for the blood draw and as promised a table of snacks. There were three beds set up in a row and a couple of chairs.

"we will start with three of you, then do the rest. Who wants to go first?" she was way to chipper,that was for sure .

"us!" clint said pulling nat with him towards the beds "we have a bet to see whose bag fills up first" clint gleamed as they both sat on their beds leaning against the pillows.

"you are obviously going to lose clint, and remember loser cleans the others weapons after the next battle."

"yea yea I remember,let's do this!" clint snickered.

"we need one more person" the nurse said already setting up for natasha.

I looked at thor he made a so and so gesture still looking unsure of what was happening. Thor was only going to give blood for the sake of publicity, since he is asgardian we can't actually use the blood for purposes other than research. Then I looked at tony who was already sat down on of the chairs ,so I shrugged and walked over to the empty bed.

"I'll do it" I said settling on the bed. "very well captain" the nurse said kindly .

Two more nurses came in followed by a cameraman who silently settled into the corner.

"where is bruce?" Tony asked suddenly, uncharacteristically quiet.

"uhm, I think he and fury are weighing the odds of the hulk making an appearance" clint said rubbing some warmth onto his upper arms getting the blood flowing.

Each of the nurses sat down by our sides as clint explained to them about their bet and that they were to start the draw at the same time.

"captain, are you also a part of this game?" she asked me, "no ma'am, think I'd rather take my time." I said .

"okay, so we will start with and and then do yours captain." We nodded our agreements.

Within a minute all three of us had our blood flowing into the bags settled by our beds. It was a surprise however that mine got filled well before either Clint or tasha's bag could get filled even halfway. They were both undoubtedly upset, clint sulking like a ten year old. The nurse cleaned up my arm after pulling out the needle and taped a small iron man Band-Aid on it . I smirked lifting my arm up to show it to tony, but he had his chin resting on his hands looking down.

"tony, look! you are gonna love this!" I said hoping off the Bed heading towards him. He looked up ,saw the Band-Aid and his face lit up as he grinned ear to ear. "I want black widow!" he quipped to the nurse as she waved him over to the bed I had just vacated.

"sure whatever you want" the kind lady said as tony plopped down onto the bed.

"you will have to take off your jacket sir"

"oh, okay, just give me a sec" tony said easing off his jacket before handing it out for me to take. I folded it neatly and placed it on the chair he was sitting on before heading over to thor who was already eating away all the snacks. "you know thor, the snacks are for after donating blood" I said grabbing some juice and biscuits that had jam between them.

"clint ,come on! You either win win fair and square or lose like the loser you are" I I as rd natasha say , I turned to see clint perched up on his knees on the bed ,trying to give more elevation ,so the blood will flow faster.

"steve come on man, give me some tips here" clint asked me. I just laughed shaking my head. "I am just the best, no tricks here." Clint stuck his tongue out at me.

Five minutes later and natasha finally wins. "in your face clint" she said as the nurse pulled her needle out taping it with a hulk band aid. She ran her fingers over it to make sure it was secure and hopped up, from the bed patting a pouting clint on his head before heading towards us.

"its your turn now, ."

"very well then, good captain, will you please guard my pop tarts until I am done?" he said handing over his paper plate to me.

"is Bruce still not here?"tony asked again from his bed.

"I don't he's coming buddy."clint said finally getting his needle removed and a thor band aid. He flexed his biceps ,to make the band aid pop, and pop it did,l. The nurse gave gave an exasperated sigh as she removed another thor band aid before taping it in place. "this is the last one ,better hold on to it" clint snickered at that "yeah,yeah" he said brushing the back of his hair as he walked over to grab the snacks.

We were crowded around the snack table talking about why it was important to keep up appearances when the nurse asked "are you feeling alright ?" all of our heads whipped around our eyes searching for the danger,it was a habit and no one commented on it. My eyes finally landed on tony, his head was bent forward resting on his hands which were propped up on his elbows on the pillow he had dropped on his lap. Everyone was quiet waiting for Tony's reply But he didn't say anything even after a couple of seconds. So the nurse placed her hand on his back coaxing his head out of his hands so he would look up so she can make sure he is okay. But the moment she pulled his hand out from underneath his chin, tony listlessly tipped forward but she grabbed him by the shoulders looking at us for assistance. I took two large steps towards them and took hold of tony "put him on his back, we should elevate his legs" I nodded tipping Tony's head back and sitting down beside him before lowering him onto the bed. Natasha grabbed two pillows and placed them under his feet elevating them. Tony had gone pale, his forehead covered with a thin layer of sweat. It was unsettling to see the ever chipper man like this.

"Tony, hey wake up" I said lightly tapping his cheek. He stirred a little , a small whine escaping his lips.

"rub his palms and soles of his feet – can you hear me?" she asked grabbing his right hand rubbing his palms. I did the same with his left and natasha remove his shoes and socks before doing the same. I stopped for a moment to loosen his tie and unbutton the first few buttons on his shirt. His skin was clammy, and pasty looking. I looked up at the nurse in alarm

"he will be just fine, this happens a lot" she said reassuring me. I suddenly remembered the camera man, looking up I saw him being ushered out by clint. That was good, because tony wouldn't appreciate this being floated around in the media.

Tony groaned a little , before finally prying his eyes open ,his eyes initially not tracking but after a few seconds it landed on my face before he gave me puzzling look.

"hey, you are okay, we were giving blood when you passed out" he took a couple of seconds to process the information ,and then frowned trying to sit up. I placed my hand on his chest holding him down ,

"you need to stay down, for a few minutes " he nodded his head no, pushing away our hands and sat up ,he swayed as he sat there on the bed so I moved behind him and slowly tipped him backwards until he was leaning on my chest. He still looked a little disoriented but that was to be expected.

"Shall I get him some juice?" clint asked ,he was fiddling with fingers from lack of anything to do,showed the concern for his teammate.

"that would be great"the nurse nodded. Tony's breathing was slightly laboured but getting better every second.

"how are you feeling? Think you can drink this?" clint said handing the little glass with mango juice in it. He nodded his head reaching for the glass his hand trembling ever so slightly. He drank greedily, I placed my hand on the glasses pulling it away from his lips slightly. "drink slowly, or you will make yourself sick" once he nodded I let go of the glass again and he took smaller sips this time.

We waited a whole minute before asking him again if he was okay. He rubbed his palm over his faces as if to rub the weariness out of his face. In the few minutes it took for Tony to regain consciousness the nurse had already removed the needle and placed a band aid . His bag was only half full ,but she sealed it up anyway.

"better now, can't believe that happened"tony said his voice a little scratchy ,and Bruce chose that moment to walk on ,he stood at the door before he realised something was amiss.

"what happened?" he asked his voice laced with concern as he walked over to us taking in the scene.

"Tony passed out"

"oh, are you okay now? Did we check his blood pressure?" he asked looking at the nurse after tony nodded his head yes.

"was just about to in a minute" she said her voice a calm welcome.

Bruce took Tony's hand placing his wrists on the inner aspect of his wrist taking his pulse. Someone in the meantime had cranked the ac up and had placed a table fan by our side trying to get the air circulation going.

"I am okay now , everyone can let go." Tony said ,trying to laugh it off. It was a known fact any of us hated showing weakness in front of others and we all respected that.

Looking up I saw the rest of the team smiling at Tony as he tried to button his shirt up again ,I slapped his hand away "leave that be, you don't need a tie to donate blood." A couple of laughter went around the room. Thor was now handing tony a pack of pop tarts , I only just realised that he must have been done as well, didn't realise it in the chaos.

"thanks point break" tony said , grabbing at the packet and ripping it open. He made a face the strawberry flavoured jam filled inside but ate it anyways .

All of us just stared at him as he finished his pop tart , watching for signs of anything we had missed. He pursed his lips ,and finally realised he was leaning against me and pushed away. I steadied him for a second afraid he would tip over again . My hand hovering around his elbows as he carefully lifted his feet off the pillows and placed them on floor ,and looking around for something.

Natasha dropped his shoes in front of him ,just as he was about to ask where they went. "thanks" he said quickly pulling them on.

"ready to try standing?" the nurse asked ,he just rolled his eyes and pushed off the bed my hands still hovering just in case.

He took a second in spite of himself to make sure he was steady, and walked over to the snacks table and took a cookie and took a bite Turned to us and grinned.

"well, looks like we are done here" I said thanking the nurses before leaving.

Twenty minutes later found us sitting in the car , clint driving. Everyone still keeping an eye on Tony. I sat next to him ,he had listed slightly to the side dozing off his head falling on my shoulder and his hair falling over his eyes. I brushed his hair off his face, trying to tuck it behind his ear,but it just fell back on his face again. I heard someone clearing their throat, looking up I saw natasha looking back at us from the front seat cocking her eyebrows " you have got it bad Roger's, think it's time to Tell him yet?" I felt all eyes on me ,a blush creeping up my neck as I just smiled wide looking down at the sleeping face and my finger tracing over the captain america band aid over on his arm.


End file.
